President, New Speaker Woo Mayors

January 28, 1995|by JOHN M. BRODER, The Los Angeles Times (Morning Call reporter Rebecca Logan contributed to this story.)

The nation's mayors had their first audience yesterday with Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., since he became House Speaker -- and many of them didn't like what they heard.

Gingrich promised the mayors a "new partnership," in which they would have more control over local programs and less "stupid and expensive" interference from Washington.

The Republican speaker, addressing the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a group of predominantly Democratic big-city chief executives, said that the new GOP-held Congress would burden them with far fewer costly demands on everything from welfare rules to sewage treatment plants.

The mayors applauded when Gingrich noted that the Senate yesterday passed a bill outlawing "unfunded mandates" on cities and states and pledged that the House would quickly approve the measure.

But the mayors took Gingrich's urban policy proposals as a barely disguised plan to radically cut urban programs and shift power from Washington to state capitals, many of which are now in the hands of Republicans who share Gingrich's appetite for cutting social welfare programs that have been the lifeblood of many big cities.

While Gingrich was politely received by the group, there was deep skepticism among the city leaders, many of whom rose through urban Democratic politics and have long enjoyed the patronage of powerful Democratic committee chairmen in Congress.

"His system is filled with contradictions," said Mayor Paul Soglin of Madison, Wis.

President Clinton, addressing the group later in the day, delivered a pitch for his "middle class bill of rights" and asked the mayors to support his proposal to raise the minimum wage.

He noted, almost in passing, that he was planning a major consolidation of programs in the Department of Housing and Urban Development that would result in cities getting far fewer federal dollars for public housing. The money instead would be given directly to tenants of public housing projects to use for rent wherever they chose to live.

He did not mention that he intends to propose an $800 million reduction in HUD's budget over the next five years to pay for his middle class tax cut, which is targeted more at suburbanites and residents of small and medium-sized cities.

Among those attending was Allentown Mayor William L. Heydt, who arrived home last night. He said he was exhausted from three days of meetings, but hopeful about some of the ideas discussed at the conference.

"I think the HUD revamping especially is going to make it a lot easier for us," he said.

Many mayors from older cities, talked with Clinton about what the new budget would mean to them, he said.

"In the Northeast we all seemed to have the same kind of problems, like we want clean air and clean water," he said. "But at the same time we need some relaxing at our industrial sites."

Heydt said they mayors spent about 90 minutes with Clinton.

"He skirted around a few issues, but most of them he gave a shot," he said. "He was fair with a lot of his answers."

Heydt said he told Clinton that he was sorry he missed him in Kutztown on Wednesday, but explained he had a prior commitment.

"(Clinton) said he was happy to come here, it was very nice country and the people were very nice," he said. "And that was about as personal as it got."